It was an evening of firsts on the West Pier of the State Port of Gulfport.

The first Chiquita ship rolled in Monday almost two years after the fruit company severed its 40-year tenancy at the port for a berth in New Orleans, the Sun Herald reported.

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Chiquita will be the first use of the state port's new cranes that were ordered from China at a cost of $30 million. Two of the three cranes will unload the ship, carrying more than twice the cargo of its predecessors.

Chiquita sailed into the port and docked at 6:30 p.m.

Chiquita will also be the first to use a massive dry-storage building that is half completed. The company's cargo will go on the north end.